


With the best wishes

by milleandra



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Jeweller Levi, M/M, Magic, Tattoo Artist Eren
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-08
Updated: 2015-05-08
Packaged: 2018-03-29 14:22:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3899539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/milleandra/pseuds/milleandra
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>English version of the fic I posted yesterday.</p><p>If Eren were to tell what was one thing he remembered the most from his childhood, he'd say it was the smell of magical herbs.</p>
            </blockquote>





	With the best wishes

If Eren were to tell what was one thing he remembered the most from his childhood, he'd say it was the smell of magical herbs.

His mother was known for her herbal meds that could treat almost anyone. He loved sneaking into her study, watching her so engrossed in her work. Her skillful hands grounded and chopped, creating potions, ointments and pills. But what he loved the most, was the moment when she was hugging him and her hair smelled of fresh herbs she just worked with. 

What Eren hated the most, were the rumours. He knew that it could be much worse, that his father's reputation of the hospital's director made people more lenient towards his wife's unusual occupation. But still, the kids at school said without restraint what their parents were gossiping about at the dinner's table - that Carla wasn't a suitable wife for such a respectable man as Grisha, that she was some kind of freak, dragging the man down, probably a witch that lured him with a potion and tied him to her with a spell.

Eren gritted his teeth, whenever a woman with a fake facade appeared in his mother's shop, asking for that cream that worked miracles, but then slipped poison into people's ears behind Carla's back. His mother was just trying to help people and that's how they repaid her?

It got worse after she died. He hated the hushed whispers of 'she finally got what she deserved'. 

But then he remembered his mother's gentle smile, when she helped a sick child. How happily she talked about their neighbour, who looked younger and healthier after using the pills that she was working on whole night. How fulfilled her work made her and how wonderful it felt to help the others. 

When Eren entered the last class of high school, Grisha asked him what he wants to do in the future. He didn't oppose when Eren said that he wants to make people happy, just like his mother.

He always had artistical inclinations, so he decided to follow that path and add the same gift that flowed through his and Carla's veins. Few years after finishing school, he was opening his own, small tattoo parlor. 

There were other, bigger shops than his. He was running the business almost alone, with his high school friend Jean keeping the register. He also had the tendency to change the drawings his clients were bringing, adding a lot of curled lines. He wasn't doing it for no reason - the rune and luck spells were easier to hide in the pattern of the tattoo's lines this way. He was an eccentric one, but somehow he was becoming an established tattoo artist and many were coming to get tattooed at his shop. 

He was satisfied as long as he had money to put bread on his table and could make people happy. They didn't need to know what exactly was hidden in the ink on their skin. 

***

Levi wasn't good at communicating with people. Whenever he tried to open his mouth, something seemed to break - his father's trust in him, teacher's belief in his skills, his companions respect for him. He could barely recollect the hazy face of his mother, before she withered away, whispering to him about the curse on his mouth and the gift in his fingers. So he decided to spare the words and let the deeds speak for him. 

He didn't go to college. Just after high school he run away from home and looked for a job to put a roof over his head. The job interviews were a nightmare and any work based on the contact with a client was completely out of question. He started out as a watchmaker's apprentice, his employer amazed by the skill and speed at which Levi was learning. 

However, no matter how calming the silence of the study was, he hoped to create more beautiful things. So he resigned from this job as soon as he gathered a little bit of spare money and looked for a different occupation. 

When he started working in the jeweller's workshop, he knew this was the place he needed to find. The satisfaction of creating things of great beauty was calming the silent buzz of insecurity in his head. He was good, really good - soon the shop he was working at became known for his breathtaking creations. 

And as he was making a new pendant, earrings or pins, and he touched the cold, smooth surface of the jewel, he could feel the energy, almost like electricity, leaving his fingers and making the stone alive and sparkling with magic. He was always working without a word, so as the curse of his mouth wouldn't affect the thing he was creating, but in his head, the incessant chanting of wishes of good luck, love and happiness could be heard - three things he never truly experienced, but wanted the others to feel when they wore his jewellery.

***

Without even looking, Eren knew that something about his newest client was unique. There was a subtle shift in the air, when the man entered his parlor and he immediately ignored Jean and their conversation in favour of scrutinizing the short, neatly dressed man standing in front of them. Somehow, he seemed too pristine to be in his shop. 

"How may I help you?" he asked, hoping to encourage the man and come closer, instead of lingering at the door. 

"For a tattoo artist your arms seem awfully bare." Eren opened his eyes wider at the bold answer. Then he felt a smirk tugging at the corners of his lips.

"You haven't seen the rest of me." he replied with his hand on his hip, thumb drawing lazy circles on his hipbone. To his amusement, he noticed the client's gaze lingering on his hand for a while, before he looked into Eren's eyes again, finally coming forward. 

"I want you to tattoo me." 

"Then you're in the right place." he smiled pleasantly, hoping the man doesn't find him patronizing or a scoffer. Tattoos were a thing for the rest of your life, so of course some of his clients seemed distressed or cranky when they were coming to him. "Do you have an idea of what exactly do you want?"

The man pulled the picture out of folder and gave it to Eren without a word. On it was the drawing of a swallow with a gemstone. Eren could already see the way the fine lines of fluffy feathers could hide the runes and the colored ink of the stone for the bird's beak would be perfect to strengthen the spell...

"You want it in color? I think we could add some red for the swallow's chin and throat area and the gem would be red as well..."

"No. It's a sapphire. It's blue." the client interrupted him suddenly and clamped down again. Eren raised his eyebrows a little, going back to the drawing again with a small sigh. That guy could use some communication training. 

"Why a sapphire?"

"Why are you asking? It's going to be on my skin, you're just tattooing it. You don't have to know why I chose this drawing." the man crossed arms on his chest defensively. 

Eren just sighed again.

"I am an artist. I leave a bit of myself in every work I create. So of course I want to know why you chose that design and what's the story behind it. So c'mon, spill it." he wanted to grab the short guy by his arms and shake, until he understands. Eren couldn't help him, couldn't choose the right spells without knowing a single thing about the man in front of him. What was bothering him, what he exactly needed, what was important enough to become a sign on his body that can't be erased.

"It's..." the man started, and Eren could see cloudy gaze, pale forehead frowned as he was gathering words in his mouth. "Not just any swallow. It's the one which helped the Happy Prince by giving his jewels to the people in need." he finished in a hushed tone, lowering his eyes. 

Suddenly Eren remembered the story of the prince and the swallow which sacrificed her life for sake of the statue's wishes. It was one of the stories his mother was telling him. 

He looked at the drawing again, seeing it in a completely new light. He understood it now.

"Fine." he said softly, smiling at the picture of the little bird. "We can use a little bit of navy to add the depth to the color of the feathers. It would match the sapphire. Are you fine with it?"

The man just nodded, looking expectantly at Eren. The intense stare almost made Eren fidget. Almost.

"Ok, so I need half an hour to work on a design. I'll be using your drawing as a base, but it will probably look a little different. If you have problem with that, I won't be able to help you and you'll have to look for a different tattoo parlor. Is that clear?" 

His client raised brow at Eren's condition, but again, nodded without a word. 

Three hours later, Levi went out of Eren's tattoo parlor with a swallow on his upper arm.

***

Sometimes the clients were coming back. For a new tattoo, for a little re-touch of the old one, for another session on the enormous design on their back or a sleeve. Usually Eren could tell who he has a chance of seeing again. 

So he was surprised when Levi came back. Stressed as well, cause the first thing coming to his mind was that the tattoo wasn't to his liking. 

Levi stood in front of him, just a desk separating them and with the intense gleam in Levi's eyes Eren felt it's not enough of a defence. 

Eren froze when Levi pulled something out of his bag and visibly relaxed when he saw it's just a tiny, elegant box.

"I want you to have it. I made it for you." Levi admitted almost shyly, pushing the box closer to Eren. When he reached for it, their fingers touched for a second and Eren could swear that he felt something like a current at the contact. He opened the box and gasped as he saw its contents. 

It was an emerald key pendant, the delicate silver lacing the gem flickering in the light. The words of refusal were tumbling from his lips, when his fingers grazed the jewel and he felt the sparks, soft and warm magic and wishes tingling his skin. He rubbed the pads of his fingers, enchanted by the shimmer and artistry of the pendant. 

"I made it especially for you. Emeralds match your eyes. And the silver complements your dark skin." he explained, taking the jewellry out of the box and extending his hands to Eren. "I wanted to thank you properly for the tattoo." small smile appeared on his face and made Eren's heart stutter. 

"But you paid for it already..! And I can't possibly..." he wanted to argue, but he couldn't. It was the first time he met someone with a gift like him. The mere thought of magic spilling from Levi's fingers made him think of everything good and familiar, of smell of herbs and home's warmth. The pendant was calling to him, the emerald winking at him playfully, extended hands... everything urged him to put it on. 

"I might have paid for the tattoo, but not for the extra service." Eren blushed, hearing Levi's words, for the first time realising that blue of his eyes matched the sapphire in the swallow's beak. He thought about their session, about putting the ink under Levi's skin and letting his magic flow directly with it. Levi must have realised back then, but didn't react at all - he must have been sitting silently and feeling Eren's spells and blessings become a part of his body. Suddenly it all felt more intimate than a regular customer-tattoo artist relationship. 

So he let Levi put the pendant on his neck. And when the timid hope that they can be each other's answer to their wishes appeared in his mind, he didn't even want to fight it.

**Author's Note:**

> Levi's tattoo is a reference to Oscar Wilde's 'Happy Prince'. 
> 
> from wikipedia: In a town where a lot of poor people suffer, a swallow who was left behind after his flock flew off to Egypt for the winter meets the statue of the late "Happy Prince", who in reality has never experienced true happiness. Viewing various scenes of people suffering in poverty from his tall monument, the Happy Prince asks the swallow to take the ruby from his hilt, the sapphires from his eyes, and the golden leaf covering his body to give to the poor. As the winter comes and the Happy Prince is stripped of all of his beauty, his lead heart breaks when the swallow dies as a result of his selfless deeds and severe cold. The statue is then torn down and melted leaving behind the broken heart and the dead swallow.


End file.
